textproduct: Quad Cities

KEY MESSAGES

- Occasional wind gusts of 45 to 50 MPH are possible late this afternoon along and north of Interstate 80. Wind gusts up to 30 MPH are possible during the evening hours.

- We will see a few rounds of showers and storms this evening through Friday AM, with plenty of dry time in between. Amounts will be around an inch or less for most, with higher amounts in our south. Severe thunderstorms are not anticipated.

- After a brief period of quiet weather Friday into Friday night, active weather returns Saturday into early next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/

Issued at 240 PM CDT Wed Apr 8 2026

Wind will continue to gust between 45 to 50 MPH late this afternoon into the early evening with winds diminishing after 6 PM with gusts up to 25 MPH into the early evening hours. A cold front is forecast to move across the area this evening and bring a band of showers and isolated thunderstorms across the area from northwest to southeast from late this afternoon through sunrise on Thursday. Rainfall amounts will be light with 1 to 2 tenths of an inch possible. The front is forecast to stall along a roughly Fairfield to Galesburg line or just to the south of there. Low temperatures are forecast to range from the mid 30s northwest of a Cedar Rapids to Dubuque line.

Showers and thunderstorms are possible in the vicinity of the front Thursday afternoon. High temperatures on Thursday are forecast to range from the upper 50s along the Highway 20 corridor to the lower 70s in far southeast Iowa, west central Illinois and far northeast Missouri. Clouds will also be limited to near the front through the day with west to northwest winds across the area with speeds of 5 to 10 MPH. Rainfall amounts through the day are expected to be light with less than a tenth of an inch.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 240 PM CDT Wed Apr 8 2026

The aforementioned front will have since stalled out over the area, with guidance generally keeping it between Interstate 80 and Highway 34 in Iowa. Thus, this has trended south since the last forecast package. This is important because this boundary will act as a focal point for rounds of showers/storms later Thursday PM, as a weak shortwave tracks towards the area from the west. This wave and the LLJ setting up Thursday evening and night will provide the necessary moisture and forcing for persistent showers and storms Thursday evening into Friday morning. More widespread rainfall is expected overnight throughout the area, with the persistent rounds of rainfall focused in our south along the boundary, where we will see the rainfall chances persist into Friday morning. We will see a nice soaking rainfall with this, where the recent dry days should allow for easy infiltration of the rainfall. Areas along and north of Interstate 80 will generally see between 0.50-0.75" of rain through the night, with those south of the interstate seeing upwards to 1.00" of rainfall. Localized amounts upwards to 1.25" will be possible.

Much of the area will remain dry on Friday after this rain moves out, with the rain moving out of our south by the afternoon hours. With this, high pressure will start to work towards the area, resulting in decreasing cloud cover from north-south and light winds. Temperatures will also be near 60, resulting in a pleasant day to close out the work week.

High pressure and associated ridge push east Saturday into Sunday, with upper level flow becoming more southwesterly. This would favor strong WAA into the region, especially on Sunday. Saturday will serve as the transitional day, which should keep us largely dry with temperatures in the 60s. Going into Sunday, we see a more potent wave eject off of the southern Rockies and track northeast into the Central Plains. LLJ will set up Saturday night ahead of this wave, which may result in overnight showers/storms, especially with a weak leading shortwave passing through. Surface low will then follow a similar track as the main wave, with leading shortwaves bringing chances for precipitation Sunday into Monday. Without a baroclinic zone stalled over the area, we are not expecting a focused area of heavy precipitation at this time. Rather, scattered showers and storms will result, especially with increasing instability. Monday into Tuesday, we will see the associated cold front pass through, largely in the evening and overnight hours. With decent forcing and instability in place ahead of the front, some stronger storms cannot be ruled out. This was highlighted by the SPC yesterday, where they had a Day 7 15% chance for severe weather in our south, equating to a level 2 of 5 risk for severe weather. Although, there is plenty of time for this forecast to change. Thus, just keep in mind that chance for stronger storms is out there, but will have to continue to monitor forecast trends.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1224 AM CDT Thu Apr 9 2026

VFR conditions will prevail through much of the TAF period, as a weak cold front moves into the area and stalls out. Thus, as we approach 12z and beyond, winds will remain light and variable with this weak convergence zone draped over the area. Areas north of the boundary will largely see winds from the west to northwest, with those south being westerly to southwesterly. After 18z, we will start to see rain chances gradually increase, with better chances for precipitation being after 21z. Opted to leave out of TAFs at this time, as confidence in timing and coverage is low right now.

DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

IA...None. IL...None. MO...None.